Fijian Pineapple Industry Prospering

From our Fiji Correspondent.

WHILE our other leading primary industries are all confronted to day with strong opposition and low world’s prices, the baby industry of pineapple growing and canning prom ises to prove one of Fiji’s most valu able assets. The only drag on the pro gress of the industry is difficulty in getting a sufficient quantity of suckers, lime alone will overcome this draw back, but a large quantitiy is in sight for next season’s planting.

The Fiji Pineapple Co.’s plantation at Waidau, on Ovalau, is coming along splendidly, and the crop looks very healthy and strong, the slopes of the hills where the pines are planted pre senting a pretty sight from the sea.

At Nandi, where West Coast Pines Ltd. has a fine plantation and fac tory, good solid progress has been made.

The company has a large area of speci ally suitable land, whose soil shows,- by careful analysis, that it is better adap ted for pineapple growing than the land of Hawaii. The company has let a good quantity of this land to Indian farmers, and already has three European farmers with crops in. Be sides these tenants, there are a num ber of outside farmers who have signed contracts to grow fruit, so the com pany has a bright future before it. and with every promise of success. The pack this season will be carried out

under the supervision of the Superin tendent of Messrs. Libby, McNeil and Libby Ltd., of Honolulu, while the can ning will be done by an expert “double seamer” from the same company. The suckers in sight for the next season will allow of a large addition to the plantation.

It is announced privately that a third pineapple growing and canning com pany is about to be launched on the West Coast of Viti Levu. The proposed capital is £200,000.

Pineapple plants on the Fijian Pineapple Co.’s plantation at Waidau, on the Island of Ovalau, Fiji.